Silfrenel
by Goblin Cat KC
Summary: GkV -- an alien threat attacks during a blizzard...but oh so much more than that...COMPLETE
1. Silfrenel

****

Silfrenel   
By KC 

Pairings: Gk/V, Gt/T 

Disclaimer: I don't know who owns Dragon Ball Z. Probably someone with a lot of money now. I would hope they overlook this poor dishonorable student and pay more attention to counting those piles of green.

Summary: Vegeta's past continues to color his present.

Other Info: Goku never left with the dragon, Vegeta never cut his hair, Pan and Bra are here, and everyone's alive. In other words, GT is silly and wasn't made by the artist and I don't consider it cannon. So there. And, um, Krillin fans shouldn't read this. In fact, Krillin fans probably shouldn't read any of my stories. 

*

...no man is so good as to be free from all evil, nor so bad as to be worth nothing...

--Viking saying

*

__

He ran, never thinking to power up, to zip into the air and make his escape before that black slime and shadow could catch up. He looked over his shoulder, swatting his violet hair out of his eyes. The formless mass ran like water over the ground, pouring uphill towards him and slithering around large stones without losing any speed.

He jerked his sword from its scabbard and sliced straight down just as it reached his boots. A scream came out of the formless mass, and it reared the cut half of its cleaved body up until it matched his height. The two flailing halves stiffened and trembled before wrapping themselves around his body, trapping his arms. He bent his wrists and the blade passed through the slime, but this time the mass resolidified. It crept over the skin on his back and shoulders, moving up his face until he couldn't breathe. He stumbled to one knee and felt the slime's pressure on his legs before it started to press at his mouth--

*

His own scream woke him up, and he found himself sitting in his own bed, the gray tanktop he wore to sleep drenched with sweat. He put his hand to his mouth to slap the darkness away and looked down when there was nothing on him.

The door opened, throwing a ray of light across the bed. "Are you all right?"

Trunks looked up at his father, dressed in his customary blue fighting outfit. "Yeah...I think..."

Vegeta crossed his arms and smirked. "You think? Unless there's some monster under your bed I can't sense..."

Trunks took a deep breath and shook his head. "No. Just a dumb nightmare." He smiled. "Thanks for checking."

The smirk disappeared and Vegeta shrugged, turning to leave. Another scream, this time female, echoed down the hall. Vegeta groaned and shook his head. "Kami, if it's not one brat it's the other..." He slammed the door behind himself and went to look in on his daughter.

Trunks lay back in bed, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. No monsters, no, but damn that dream felt real. He listened to one of the windows opening and shutting. Vegeta was going out early again. And avoiding mother.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes, looking very much like his father. Vegeta did this nearly every morning, leaving before dawn, coming home late, sometimes forgetting to come home at all...and Bulma didn't seem to mind all that much. All of her yelling had been more about leaving windows unlocked or forgetting not to blast late visitors to Capsule Corps on his way out. Never about where he went or what he did...but then he was only ever at Goku's capsule house. Goku had gone out into the woods for another round of training, and though it again left Chichi to her own house, the two of them seemed happier for it, living close but not tripping over each other. Less yelling, less vases being thrown or plates being broken...just like Vegeta and Bulma were acting. Certainly no plates had been tossed by Bulma before, but the volume in Capsule Corpse had noticeably dropped. It was as if Saiyans naturally irritated humans and were only happy around other Saiyans.

Still brooding on that thought, Trunks sat all the way up, one leg bent with the other curled under himself, fist pressed to his mouth. Odd. 

"Trunks?" Bra pushed the door in and peered around the edge. "Are you awa--geez, you look like papa."

He smiled and relaxed, sitting cross-legged. "You all right?"

She nodded and leaned against the doorframe. "Yeah, I just had a bad nightmare."

"I know." He smirked. "I heard you all the way down here."

She stuck her tongue out. "Don't be so smug. 'Two brats screaming at their own shadow'," she said in an imitation of their father's voice. "'At least one of them's a girl...'"

Trunks let the comment slide. "Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

Bra gave him a weak smile. "Actually, I _was _screaming at a shadow."

Trunks sat up , and Bra leaned back at seeing the look on his face. "A shadow?" he asked.

"Uh-huh." She twirled her hair around one finger. "Maybe papa's right, maybe I am just--"

"Did it move like water?"

"What?"

"The shadow, did it move like water? Or try to crawl up your body?"

She tilted her head. "And try to suffocate me. Did you dream that, too?"

"Yeah." He scooted back so he could rest against the headboard. "That's weird."

"Maybe we should tell papa?"

"He's gone already. If he's in a good mood later, I'll talk to him."

"He's with Kakarrot again, right?"

A light clicked on behind them, and they looked up as their mother came in, still tying the sash around her robe.

"You two all right?" Bulma asked.

"Yeah," Bra said, "we just had a nightmare. That's all."

"Oh, good." She turned around, giving them a view of the heavy gray firearm tucked behind her back. "Did your father already leave?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago." Trunks straightened bolt upright. "Want me to go get him?"

Without turning around, she waved her hand. "No no, just curious." She passed by the open window and shook her head, slamming it shut and locking it. "Stupid Saiyan," she muttered. "Always leaving things open."

As soon as their mother had closed the door behind herself, Bra looked at her sibling. "Is it me, or are mama and papa acting funny?"

His shoulders slumped. "It's not you."

She waited for him to say something else, but he didn't move. "Oh." Twirling her hair again, she turned and left, closing his door again and leaving him in a dark room.

*

The stars were still visible, if fading, and the sky looked more violet than pink. High above the forest, flying just beneath the heavy cloud cover, Vegeta allowed himself to fold his arms together and shiver. No one could see him, even if anyone had been awake. So high up in the air, the wind cut across his body as if his blue training outfit wasn't there, but he cursed out loud when he saw another stream of snowflakes coming from the clouds.

"Oh, that's just perfect."

He straightened in the air, arms at his side, preparing to make the jump to super Saiyan to burn away any snowflakes coming near, when he noticed the light flickering in an icy clearing below. He floated to the ground, skimming over the frozen ground until he was only half a mile from the house. Out of habit he crossed his arms, and he forced his ki down and started walking.

Within a few minutes he stood outside Goku's little capsule house. Its warm windows lit the falling snow, making a circle of light within the darkness. He was close enough to see inside the windows when the front door opened. After ducking behind one of the larger trees nearby, he watched Krillin step out first, wobbling a little, followed by Tien and the odd little clown Chaotzu. After them came Yamcha, who nearly toppled into the snow before Goku steadied him and sent him out after the others. Gohan was last, carrying Master Roshi over his shoulder and sharing a few words with Goku that Vegeta couldn't hear before heading straight to the air car and helping his friends get inside without collapsing in a heap.

"I'm not that drunk," Krillin said just before falling into the backseat of the car. Gohan tossed Roshi in after him, the two snoring loudly together.

"Oh, you's drunk..." Yamcha said. "You's sooooo drunnnk..." He stood up straight, stretching his arms out with a loud groan, and fell backward into the snow. Tien grabbed his arms while Gohan took his legs, and together they tossed him on top of Krillin. Chaotzu landed on Yamcha's back.

The scarred fighter groaned and shook his head. "Don't feel so good...*urp*..."

Gohan jumped behind the controls and started the engine. "If you make a mess, you're cleaning it up."

"So hurry up and get me home."

Vegeta waited until the air car was not only off the ground but out of sight before flying the short distance to the front door. He looked up just as he landed and took a quick step back. "Kakarrot."

Leaning on the doorframe, Goku smiled. "Hey, 'Geta. I knew you'd be back soon. Sleepy?"

Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms again. "Not like I had enough time at Capsule."

"Four hours?" Goku asked. He turned to the side and motioned him in.

"More like five, if you count their coming and going." Vegeta shook his head, dislodging some of the snow stuck in his hair, and walked by Goku. He glanced around the living room and the overturned empty bottles, empty cans, chairs, and a pack of cards scattered around the room.

"You could've stayed." Goku shut the door and followed him. "Would've kept the conversation interesting. After Chaotzu and Krillen passed out the first time, things got kinda quiet." 

Vegeta turned and stared at him.

"No, I guess not, huh?," Goku said with a laugh. "Oh well, at least the capsule house stays in one piece then." He started turning the chairs back up, gathering the cans on the ground as he did. 

"And why would I destroy the only thing that gets you out of that harpy's clutches?" Vegeta swept the cards into a pile and scowled when he saw the pictures on the fronts. "Roshi's deck, I assume."

"Yup. You know I wouldn't have something like that just laying around."

While Vegeta gathered all of the naked girl playing cards and threw them away, Goku finished gathering up the beer bottles and cans.

"He's gonna be angry when he finds out those are gone," Goku said.

The Saiyan prince shrugged. "Tell him they soaked in spilled beer."

"Like they haven't before?" Goku dumped the bottles in the trash and stretched, his mouth opening wide with a loud yawn. "Well, even if you're not, I'm sleepy."

"Is that all you ever think about? Fighting, eating and sleeping?"

Goku smiled and stepped behind his companion, putting his arms around the slimmer waist. "I think of other things."

"Really?" Vegeta didn't move from Goku's warmer body. "That's more like fighting, eating and sleeping rolled into one."

His smile turning into a grin, Goku stepped back, one hand behind his neck. "Sometimes. You coming to bed?"

Vegeta nodded and turned out the lights while Goku locked the doors and windows. Once the house was dark, Vegeta stretched his sore muscles, wincing as he pulled the remnants of old injuries along his arms and back. Goku turned around and watched for a moment. All of his mate's movements seemed painful although he hid his face and suppressed any groans anyone else might have made.

"Now I know that's not from any fighting we've done," Goku said.

Vegeta glared at him, a few shades short of baring his teeth.

"Hey, don't get upset my night vision's just as good as yours." He walked behind Vegeta and put his hands on the smaller Saiyans shoulders, gently rubbing. "And the cold doesn't usually make you sore. You all right?"

As Vegeta's throat rumbled with a low purr, and he leaned back until he bumped against Goku. "Well enough."

Goku smiled and lowered his arms around Vegeta's waist again, and in turn the smaller Saiyan put one hand on Goku's and the other in his hair, drawing him down for a kiss. Goku pulled his lover's shirt up and forced the bottom half of the spandex outfit down.

"You love making me peel you out of this," he whispered.

"Why else would I wear it so often?" Vegeta turned and grabbed Goku's sash, undoing it and pulling it away. "Now, Kakarrotto," and he trailed the last syllable out, "are you really all that tired?"

"No. Not really."

*

Later that night, Goku stretched one arm over Vegeta's waist and nestled his head a little further into the pillow, still far from sleep. _I don't remember any fights that would've given him such permanent damage,_ he thought. _At least not that we'd see right now. He kinda acts like Master Roshi when his joints get stiff, but worse. But those kinds of wounds would have to be as old as he is, so who...?_

Goku sighed. Frieza. Why did it always have to come back to Frieza? _Vegeta never gives me straight answers about him...won't even answer questions about his childhood_. He looked down over his sleeping companion, staring at him while his defenses were lowered but not entirely gone. Vegeta made no noise at night, didn't even move much on the bed. He lay in the same position he'd fallen asleep in and his breathing was no more than a whisper between his lips. With the scowl gone, his mate seemed relaxed, even innocent, and his infrequent mumbles only made him more so. 

Outside the wind howled and swirled against the windows covered with frost, and huge snowflakes tapped on the glass faster and faster. Goku grabbed the blanket and pulled it higher around his shoulders so that it swallowed his lover up and covered the lower part of his face. And like every night, Vegeta tilted his head so that he hid even more. He pressed his face against Goku's chest and snuggled his body closer until he disappeared half-under him. Goku smiled and ran his fingers through the spiky hair that was softer than Chi Chi's ever was. Vegeta purred and nuzzled his chest. 

"K'r'tto..."

"You must really be fast asleep," Goku whispered. His hand drifted from Vegeta's face to his shoulder and finally ended stroking his side. "You look so peaceful."

Vegeta's eyes opened halfway and he looked up at his lover's face. "Kakarrot...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Goku said, bringing his hand up. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Idiot." Vegeta shut his eyes and nestled close again. "Don't move so much."

Goku's smile softened and he lay his arm back around the smaller Saiyan's body. "Gotcha." He yawned, tightened his grip a little, and fell asleep.

*

The storm had paused when Vegeta woke up alone in bed. He patted the side of the bed for a moment before he opened his eyes and spotted Goku coming out of the shower, shaking water out of his hair.

"Morning," Goku said, far too perky for the morning. "Boy, you sure slept in late today." 

"I did?" he asked as he sat up.

"Yup, it's already twelve."

The Saiyan prince lay back down on his pillow and purred. "I think I could sleep for a few more hours."

"Well, I'd better warn you that the guys are coming back today. I think they said something about a barbecue." His eyes glazed over at the thought of honey glazed ribs.

"What? It's the middle of winter. I thought you did those things only during this planet's hot seasons." He waved one hand towards the window and the gray storm clouds it framed. "It's going to snow again."

"That's okay, we can just use our ki to stay warm." He sat on the edge of the bed, catching and stroking Vegeta's hand. "Besides, it shouldn't snow for a couple hours, and they'll be here way before that happens."

"Damn." Vegeta groaned and got out of bed. 

"You could stay," Goku said. "You don't have to talk to them, just stay with me."

Vegeta gathered his clothes and dressed. "You are so naive, Kakarrot. So naive." He opened the bedroom window and sat on the sill, finishing with his shirt and ignoring the cold air that blew in. "I'll be at the ridge we fought at last, if your human friends leave early."

Goku put his hand on Vegeta's arm. "You don't have to leave. Stay."

"Kakarrot--"

"They're you're friends, too."

Vegeta laughed and stroked his lover's cheek with his hand. "Idiot," he breathed, and his eyes closed while his shoulders relaxed. "They would kill me if they had the chance."

"'Geta?"

"You're so trusting." The Saiyan prince climbed out the window and turned around, hovering over the snow. "You have no idea what I risk coming here every night."

Goku leaned out the window. "You mean Bulma? Hey, if ChiChi found out about us, she'd flip her lid."

"Bulma? The woman's too intelligent to think she owns me." He lifted a few inches off the ground. "At the ridge, Kakarrot."

Goku sighed and nodded. "At the ridge." He watched Vegeta fly off into the forest and disappear. "I'll see you then."

He heard the rumbling engine of an aircar coming closer, and he grabbed his usual orange suit. He frowned as he put it on. _Vegeta's the only one who never complains if I answer the door naked. Well, unless someone else is there. Then he just doesn't say anything. I mean, really, what's the big deal about wearing clothes?_

As soon as he finished tying his sash, he heard someone knock. He ran over to the door and opened it. "Hey, guys. How're you feeling? You don't look so good."

Yamcha blinked a few times and leaned harder against Gohan. "Just a hangover, is all. It's not that bad, honest."

"Speak for yourself," Krillin said, hands on his head.

Behind them, Gohan smiled and nudged them all in. "Hey Dad. What was Vegeta doing here?"

"Huh?" Tien blinked all three eyes. "He was here? He wasn't bothering you, was he?"

"Trying to goad 'Kakarrot' into another fight to the death?" Yamcha said with a laugh.

Goku waved his hands and grinned. "No no, nothing like that. Training ran late yesterday, so he stayed over. Hey, are you guys sure you're up to a barbecue? You look pretty worn out still."

Yamcha shook his head, not to disagree, but to clear it. "Ah, we'll be fine. Just give us a few minutes to really wake up."

Krillin floated onto the couch and lay down before Roshi could get to it. "Yeah, Gohan decided to wake us all up at the crack of dawn."

"I had to round all of you up," Gohan said. "Besides, it's not that early."

"18 slept later, and she's usually up by seven." Krillin rolled on his side and started to snore.

Roshi grabbed a cushion from one end of the couch, then snuck closer and whacked his head. "Get up, you couch hog. We gotta fire up the coals before Tien an' Chaotzu come back with the food."

"Ow!" Krillin fell off the couch. Before he could get back on, Roshi plopped down and used the cushion as a pillow. "Man, you just wanted it for yourself. Well, see if any of us wake you up when they get back."

"Are you sure they can carry enough?" Goku asked and scratched his head. 

"Sure they can," Yamcha laughed. "They learned their lesson last time."

Gohan stretched and went with his father to the backyard, the snow crunching beneath their feet. "I don't think they want a repeat of last time. They made, what, five trips?"

Goku flushed pink. "Heh, yeah. I was kinda hungry that day."

"You're always hungry." Gohan looked up at the sky. "Looks like it might snow a little more. I hope it holds off a little longer."

Yamcha followed behind them, hands clasped behind his head. "I hope those clouds just pass by. Otherwise these drifts'll get even worse."

"What do you mean, worse?" Goku blinked and looked around. Even in the pale light, the snow made everything sparkly.

Gohan shook his head and grinned. "Only we would have a barbecue in the winter."

They started pulling chairs and tables out, setting up the grill, and Goku looked towards the valley several miles out. He could barely make out the shape of the ridge above the river, but Vegeta's ki glowed strong enough to feel, if one looked for it. Goku smiled and kept half his focus on that ki source to make sure it didn't go anywhere.

"Hey, where's Goten?" Goku asked. "And Trunks, and everyone else?"

Hefting one last table over his head, Gohan looked back at his father. "Pan and Goten're over at Capsule Corps. I think Trunks said he'd bring everyone over in half an hour or so."

Yamcha set out the coals and picked up a bottle of lighter fluid. "Goten sure spends a lot of time over there now. How the heck does he handle it?" He twisted off the top and poured lighter fluid over the coals.

"Handle what?" Goku asked.

"Vegeta. Y'know, the walking attitude."

Goku paused and looked at his friend. "He's really not that bad. He's just kind of..." his voice trailed off as he tried to think of the right word.

"Arrogant?" Krillin asked. "Vicious?" 

"A planet-killing psychopath?" Yamcha said.

"He's changed," Goku said. "He's not evil anymore, if he ever was."

"I don't know," Gohan said, sitting down on a table. "He's killed billions of people."

"But he doesn't anymore." He saw the look in his friends' eyes and felt their attitudes grow colder than the weather. He sighed and leaned against the wall of his house, crossing his arms. "Hey, how come Videl isn't here?"

"She went shopping for baby clothes," Gohan said.

They all looked up silently. When he noticed that the only ones making noise were the crickets, Gohan glanced around at them. "Oh...I...oh man, she's gonna be pissed. She didn't want to say anything yet."

"Congratulations, man," Yamcha said, slapping his back once. "Girl or a boy?"

Gohan raised his hands and shook his head. "No, I think I'd better leave that for her to say, otherwise she'll have my head."

In the distance, they felt a spike of ki and they looked up. Tien and Chaotzu carried the equivalent of two cows on their backs, dipping up and down in the sky under the weight. Goku's mouth watered at the sight, and he lit the grill with a tiny ball of ki.

A fireball erupted in his face, setting the end of a shock of hair on fire. With a sigh, Gohan pinched his father's hair out and glared at Yamcha, who shrugged.

"Too much lighter fluid, sorry."

*

A soft wind blew through the trees, running along the damp ground. Underneath a tree and sheltered somewhat from the snow, Vegeta leaned back against the trunk and stared at the sky, a thick blanket of clouds layered on top of each other. One looked like a toy duck that Trunks had played with as a whelp. Another looked like the winged species of human he'd never seen except on the sides of certain buildings spread around the city. Two clouds moved side by side, tumbling much like Trunks and Goten just a few years ago.

He growled and closed his eyes, turning his head aside. "Why the hell am I getting so sentimental? Not like the past is such a great thing to remember."

Soft underneath him, the damp dirt provided a cold but comfortable bed, almost as comfortable as having another Saiyan sleeping behind him. Aside from his time on Vegetasei and his recent years on earth, he'd slept either on hard alien terrain or the cold metal bed in Frieza's ship. This snowy weather was hardly noticeable. He curled against the tree and closed his eyes. Kakarrot could wear even a prince out.

A thundercloud rumbled in the distance and he cracked an eye to see it. Still several miles away, it centered over the city, a light drizzle right now but growing stronger. The yellow lights in the buildings stood out even at this distance, highlighted by the dismal sky. 

He closed his eyes and reached out, focusing on his son's ki. As expected, Goten's flared beside it. Both ki's floated around each other so close that they intermingled, and he smirked. If the brats didn't say anything soon, he'd surprise them and out them in front of everyone. Sweet revenge for all their little pranks they loved to play. 

He moved on to Bra's ki and found her accompanied by 18's brat. All traces of fear from her earlier nightmare faded under the enjoyment of whatever the girls were doing. His senses swept downward. Inside her laboratory, Vegeta could feel the woman sitting beside her father. The two of them felt happy enough yelling at each other while working on eradicating something they could only see in their microscopes.

Satisfied, he turned his attention to his mate and his friends. Kakarrot's appetite and the taste of the freshly charred meat made him smile despite the chattering humans surrounding him. The Namek had just arrived. Vegeta wondered why the string bean bothered to show up when he could only have water.

The thunderclouds rumbled again, and he listened for a few minutes as the creek that had carved the ridge over the centuries slowly swelled with runoff, turning into a river beneath him. Storm breezes whipped up the small waves, lulling him towards sleep. He reached out again, feeling the life force of nature itself as he slipped towards Kakarrot and felt his mate gently touch his ki back, the pulse of Satan city not too far away, the shadow of something slithering along--

"Silfrenel."

His eyes snapped open and he sat up, his hand covering his mouth. A cold chill ran through his muscles as his adrenalin surged. Now that he knew about it, he could feel it clearly in the cooling air, like slime on his skin even though the shadow moved miles away. How long had it been there, hiding away without him feeling it? But the brats had felt it, he remembered. He closed his eyes and focused, sensing its liquid ki through the air and tracking it, feeling the lingering traces of where it had been and its thrust out in its current direction. It was headed for his children.

"Shit." He couldn't reach Capsule Corps in time, but if he could make it to Kakarrot's house, call and warn the woman...

"Vegeta?" 

Everyone looked up when Goku said that. He stopped eating and closed his eyes, as if listening to something they couldn't hear.

"Gohan?" Krillin asked. "Can you hear anything?"

"No," Gohan said as he shook his head. "Dad?"

Goku listened as his mate's ki spiked out of fear. He felt further for some feel of the reason until--"the kids?" He put two fingers to his head, concentrated, and disappeared.

The fighters looked around at each other, wondering if someone knew what that meant.

"Kids?" Yamcha said. "Is that bastard going after Goten and Trunks now?"

"No way, Trunks is his own son," Gohan said.

Piccolo nodded. "He wouldn't hurt his own kid, not without a damn good reason."

"I wouldn't put anything past Vegeta," Krillin said, rising into other air. "I'm still gonna go check it out."

"I'm coming with you," Yamcha said as he followed.

"Wait for us," Tien said. Chaotzu flew up beside him.

Still on the ground, Gohan slammed the barbecue top down to smother the flames and then flew towards Capsule Corps, him and Piccolo flying faster than any of the humans could.

On the edge of the ridge, Vegeta stumbled back when Goku materialized in front of him. "What the hell?"

"I heard you from the house," Goku said, his eyes wide. "What's wrong?"

"No time to explain, just get us to Capsule Corps now." He grabbed Goku's hand, and a moment later, they stood outside the main door. Vegeta flew up to his son's bedroom window and looked inside. "Brat, get your head out of there!"

Trunks stumbled out of the closet, a leather jacket in one hand and a shirtless Goten beside him. "Dammit, now what?"

"Get your boyfriend and the girls and get into the air." He turned to go, then looked back again. "Stay at least fifty feet up, and don't go near any buildings."

"What's wrong?" Goten asked. "Another enemy?"

"Ask Trunks," Vegeta said. "He saw it last night."

As Vegeta flew off, Goten looked at Trunks. "Saw what?"

Trunks knelt at the head of his bed and picked up his sword. "A strange kind of monster that moves like water. I thought it was just a dream."

"A dream?" Goten watched him strap on his sword, then ran after Trunks down the hall. "Are you guys sure--"

"It felt damn real before. I'll ask papa more later," Trunks said. He knocked on his sister's door. "Hey, Bra!"

"Go away!" Marron yelled. "No boys allowed."

Bra stuck her head out of the doorway. "Was papa just here?"

Trunks nodded. "He said all of us need to get out of Capsule Corps and get into the air."

"Why?" Even as she asked, she flung the door wide.

"That dream we had was real."

As Trunks grabbed Bra, Goten cradled Marron and followed Trunks out the window. Their fathers already stood outside on the roof, with Bulma inside her hover car high up in the sky. They dropped the girls in with Bulma and flew back down towards their fathers.

"What is it?" Trunks asked.

"Silfrenel."

"But what is it?" Goku asked, sniffing the air. "An animal?"

"It's evil." Vegeta also breathed in, but through his mouth, tasting the air and running the cold wind over his teeth. "I should have suspected something when my brats had their nightmares. They'd already sensed it, even if they didn't realize what it was. Children seem to notice these creatures more readily than adults."

"We're not children," Trunks and Goten said at the same time, but they were ignored.

"What does it do?" Goku asked. 

"It will search out the strongest breeders on a planet, choosing them by their high ki levels, mate them, then leave."

"Mate them? They let it do that?"

Though he never looked away from the snowy landscape, Vegeta's face obviously tightened as it always did when his mate said something particularly stupid. "No, Kakarrot. They don't."

"Huh?" Goku scratched his head and thought about that. After a minute, he winced. "Oh."

Beside them, Trunks squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. "It can't just be the bad light," he said.

"What?" Goten asked.

"I can feel it coming," Trunks said. "It's getting close, but I can't see it. Is it underground?"

"You'll see it soon," Vegeta said. "It will look like a moving shadow."

Minutes passed. Snow started to fall, huge heavy flakes that only added to drifts around them. It was more of an annoyance than anything else, and Trunks tied his hair back so it wouldn't plaster itself in his eyes. Goku had to flip it out of his face a few times, but the moisture wasn't nearly enough to bring Vegeta's hair down. Goku looked at the prince and smiled.

"I guess it's good in a fight," he said, "if your hair doesn't ever get in your eyes."

"I guess," Vegeta said. "I've forgotten what those spikes in front of your face feel like."

"Huh?" Goku tilted his head. His mate had bangs before?

Goten pointed straight ahead. "Is that it?"

The size of a large dog, it looked like a black puddle pouring itself towards them, racing over the ground and wet grass. As it came closer, dark tentacles spread forward like arms, waving around for its prey. It stopped directly under them and whipped its tentacles back and forth.

"What's it doing?" Goten whispered.

"It's blind," Trunks said.

"Yes," Vegeta nodded. "But it can still feel us."

"Looks kinda weak," Trunks said. "It can't even fly."

"Don't underestimate it," Vegeta said. "Those tentacles are strong, and it can grow as many as it likes. Whatever you do, don't get too close."

"So we'll just be blasting it," Goku said, raising his hand and shaping a ki charge.

"No!" Vegeta lunged and grabbed his hand. 

The blast went wild, plowing into the ground next to the silfrenel. It made a screeching sound and slithered over the spot of scorched earth, rippling and digging its tentacles into the dirt.

"Don't blast it," Vegeta said. "That'll only make it stronger. It absorbs ki."

"What?" Goten asked. "Then how do we fight it?" 

"There are a few ways," Vegeta said. "It can be incinerated, but the temperatures needed are too high and it could slither through any trap we made. We could freeze it, but we'd have the same problems."

The silfrenel coiled in on itself and stretched its tentacles as high as it could, gathering them together to reach higher. They flew out of its reach, the tip of its tentacle waving just a few feet beneath them. 

"If we keep it here," he thought out loud, "and hold it in place with close ki blasts to the ground, we may be able to starve it to death, or at least weaken it. It must be starved already, it's small, and the cold weather's making it sluggish. Then we could throw it into space."

Goten turned upside down in the air and batted at the tentacle. "Why not throw it now--aah!"

Before Vegeta could wrench him out of its reach, the silfrenel coiled its tentacle around Goten's wrist and yanked him down. Goten tried to pull free, but even transforming once didn't slow his descent. The tentacle split into a dozen more, the ends wrapping around his other arm and legs, one coiling about his neck while another grabbed his waist. He kicked and flailed harder when he felt it searching for an opening in his clothing.

"Trunks," Vegeta yelled, "cut him free!" Before he'd finished speaking, he was diving in and amongst the tentacles, distracting most of them from Goten. Goku followed him in.

His sword unsheathed, Trunks lunged forward and slashed the thickest tentacle around Goten's waist. His blade easily severed it and the top half dripped off like water. Goten used his new leverage to pull as hard as he could on the remaining lines, giving Trunks the room to cut two more apart.

Behind Trunks, one of the cut tentacles suddenly split off into two that whipped around his ankles. While he was cutting those, several more curled around Goten again.

"Dammit!" He transformed once and began slicing again as fast as he could, but for every one he cut, two sprouted out. He looked up at Goten. One of the thickest tentacles was prodding at his mouth, trying to force its way in. "Father, I can't cut them all! There's too many!"

Vegeta looked up, watching his son struggle to cut Goten loose. Kakarrot was distracting well over half of the creature's arms, but their efforts weren't enough. As much as he hated to strengthen the beast, there was no help for it. He flew clear of the waving tentacles, aimed for two of the bigger ones holding Goten, and fired a single, thin blast that cut them as well as Trunks' sword. More blasts followed, but without Vegeta distracting it anymore, they made little progress. Finally Trunks flew just behind Goten and put one arm around his waist. As the tentacles blew apart, he pulled Goten up with all his strength. 

The silfrenel's hold on the ground started to slip. The ki it received with each blast didn't make up for mass it had lost. With two super Saiyans pulling in the same direction and its tentacles being sliced, the target was becoming less worth the effort. Vegeta noticed its weakening and fired faster, only narrowly avoiding the two trapped inside. He glanced at Goku, still flying around the rest of the creature's arms, and swallowed once. If his mate became trapped, he wasn't sure he could get him free.

A huge flare of ki behind him was his only warning. A split-second after he felt it, a blast struck him square in the back, sending him sprawling towards the silfrenel. He stopped himself and dodged left just in time to avoid the creature's attempt to grab him. Without time to see who had attacked him, he flew closer to his son and between them managed to sever the last few tentacles holding them. He grabbed their arms and flew them out of harm's reach. Breathing hard and covered in sweat, Goten sagged against Trunks who held him with one arm, his other hand holding his sword. 

Another ki blast was launched at Vegeta, but this time he turned and deflected it in time. He snarled as he saw who'd attacked him, and he would've sent a big bang shot their way except Goku came up beside him and grabbed his hand before he could raise it. He brought up his other hand only to have Goku snatch that one, too.

"Stupid humans!" Vegeta yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Stopping you," Krillin said. "I knew you were evil, but attacking your own son?"

Gohan lowered his hand. There was no need for another blast, now that Goku had Vegeta firmly in his grip. "Are you two all right?"

"Are you fucking blind?" Trunks yelled. He sheathed his sword so he could better hold Goten. His mate's adrenalin rush was over and he was starting to tremble, clinging to Trunks as if his life depended on it. "Can't you see it? It nearly got me and Goten!"

The small group looked down at the ground beneath the two demi-Saiyans, but only Gohan and Piccolo saw anything besides a small, flickering shadow. Something in Kami's memory stirred, a half-forgotten image of liquid shadows forcibly breeding with anything compatible, hunting and swallowing strong life forces, and Piccolo strained to remember anything else about it.

Beside him, Gohan sensed nothing beyond a slimy feeling. He didn't know where that sensation came from, only that the shadow beneath him seemed to project it. But Trunks and Goten and his father were treating it like an enemy, and Vegeta had been firing ki blasts, so he shot off his own blast directly into the creature's center.

While the small group of Saiyans and demi-Saiyans yelled at Gohan, the silfrenel curled around the blast, seemingly folding in on itself as if wounded. Its tentacles disappeared back inside itself, making it a round black ball, and its diameter increased several inches as it digested Gohan's ki.

"You moron..." Trunks said.

Piccolo glared at Gohan. "I think you just screwed up."

"I think you're right."

On the ground, the silfrenel sensed the amount of ki sources around it, at least half of them hostile and the other half slowly figuring out what it was. All of them seemed able to fight, and if it attacked any one of them, the rest would tear it to pieces. No easy targets there. The rest of the ki sources on the planet were pitifully low compared to theirs, or set out across the ocean, and it couldn't go into the water without slowly dissolving. Snow was bad enough. But now it was starving and small and there were no suitable breeders nearby--it paused. It swept its senses out again. There, across the city. 

It had missed one.

Giving up on its present prey, it flowed along the snow like quicksilver, flowing faster than the Saiyans could follow. Before anyone else had moved, Vegeta followed after it, flying low to ground to keep close. The snowfall had lessened but few shops were open, leaving him mostly empty streets until it led him into the upscale shopping districts. The pair moved so quickly that everyone nearby only felt a strong winter wind.

As they flew down a long avenue, Vegeta glanced ahead. It was a dead end, a narrow strip of stores that converged at one giant mall. There at the entrance he saw its target. Videl.

Just before it reached her, Vegeta put on a burst of speed and overshot it, landing directly between her and the silfrenel. It tried to stop but slid along the snow until it collided with him, caught in his arms as he grabbed it and flew straight into the air. Feeling a slight breeze, Videl had only started to turn when he'd already disappeared, and she only saw a blur that she figured must have been a rushed shopper.

Climbing steadily into the atmosphere, Vegeta struggled to keep a grip on his prey. Its slithering through the snow and the colder air around them made it possible to hold, but it still moved like half-frozen water in his hands. He closed his eyes. It was only a matter of time before it grew desperate and--

A tentacle shaped like a spear point pressed against his chest for a second before it stabbed through his body, pressing an inch out of his back.

Vegeta jerked in shock but he didn't let go, not even after the second and third strike. Thinner tentacles like needles stabbed through his arms and hands, retracting and lashing out again and again. Blood ran freely down his arms and body, but his ascent never slowed and as they went higher it was no longer able to move, frozen solid by the high altitude. When he felt it stop, he held it out in one hand, pulling free the thin tentacles embedded in his hand, and flung it hard into space. He managed to stay in the air long enough to watch it disappear, fading into the darkness, before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell back to earth.

Back at Capsule Corps, Goku left Trunks to explain or rather shout at his would-be saviors while he took off after Vegeta, flying over the city for a better view. He expected to hear emergency sirens, his mate yelling in anger, at least screaming humans. Nothing. Even the city itself was quieter than usual, leaving him alone in the sky with just the sound of the wind around him. He shivered as he flew, but the chill he felt didn't come from the snow. Vegeta's ki had suddenly faded.

Despite the faint trace, he followed his prince's ki over rooftops and buildings, slowly making his way across the city entirely. It was over the outskirts of the city that he spotted a small shadow on the unbroken field of white. At first he thought it might be the silfrenel but as he came closer, he recognized Vegeta's body sprawled in the snow. The darker shapes around him were his own blood.

If he hadn't felt his ki, Goku would have sworn Vegeta was dead. He landed and put his arms around his prince, lifting him halfway. Vegeta's head came to rest on his shoulder and Goku lay his fingers on his face, turning him gently. Blood trickled from his mouth, and in the cold air his faint breath looked like red vapor. 

For a moment his eyes fluttered open, staring unfocused at Goku. His hand, mangled and dripping, came up to rest on Goku's, holding still. The pain was gone but he still felt cold, colder than the snow around him. But his mate was comfortable and warm. He closed his eyes. "Why are you shivering?" he whispered. "You're so warm..."

Before Goku could say anything, Vegeta's hand slipped away and his body relaxed. He cried out, feeling Vegeta's ki fading fast. His mind raced for a solution and he remembered that a new crop of senzu beans had come in. Krillin might have it. He teleported back to Capsule Corps, Vegeta's body cradled in his arms. 

No one seemed to have moved from where he'd seen them. Everyone was on the ground wincing as Trunks yelled at them, cursing enough to make his father proud. The only one who escaped his wrath was Goten, still clinging to Trunks.

When he saw Goku, Trunks froze. He tightened his own grip on Goten. "Papa?"

Gohan stared at the blood covering his father's gi, saturating it so much that it was dripping too. He closed his eyes and looked away. The humans stood transfixed. They'd all seen Goku and Vegeta injured before, but never so badly, never so much blood.

"Krillin," Goku said. "I need a senzu."

Krillin froze as everyone looked at him. He glanced back at Vegeta. He winced at the slashed and pierced body, but he'd never liked the prince. He'd been the cause of most of their problems, and if Goku had let him kill the Saiyan the first time, there wouldn't be any of this constant trouble. He hadn't seen this silfrenel thing Trunks kept squawking about, but the whole affair had Vegeta's name written all over it.

"I don't have any," he said. "I haven't gotten anymore yet."

"What?" Goku frowned. "But there was a new--"

"None of us have one," Tien cut in. "It was peaceful until now. We didn't need them."

Goku looked back and forth between the humans, unbelieving. "But you always..."

"A senzu's not enough for him anyway," Piccolo said. "Get him to Dende. That's his only chance."

Without another word, Goku disappeared. The moment he was gone, Piccolo flew up behind Krillin and grabbed the back of his neck, turning him upside down. While the other humans yelled or moved to stop him, he shook the small monk a few times. Krillin's wallet and a few coins spilled onto the ground. Piccolo put his hand out and caught the two small beans as they fell from Krillin's pocket.

"Thought so," he muttered, dropping the monk.

Gohan stared at the senzu in Piccolo's hand, then glared at Krillin. "Why on earth--"

Krillin opened his mouth, but Piccolo cut him off. "I can tell you why," he said. "They don't like him, plain and simple."

"You son of a bitch..." Trunks whispered. He raised his hand to fire a blast and to Krillin's horror no one moved to stop him.

"Hey," he shouted, "don't you dare blame me! Vegeta's nothing but a pain in the ass. He causes more problems than he's ever fixed here. We'd be better off without him!"

"Trunks, no!" Yamcha said, moving beside Krillin. "You can't kill him. He's your friend."

"Like hell," Trunks said. "He as good as tried to kill my father."

Tien and Chaotzu landed on his other side. "He's only doing what's right," Tien said. "I know he's your father, Trunks, but--"

The blast caught them all by surprise. The ground at their feet exploded, sending them backwards in a spray of mud and snow. When they looked up, Trunks was lowering his hand, the heat turning to vapors in the cool air. When he spoke, his voice was little more than a whisper, hard to hear over the wind.

"Krillin, if I ever see you again," he said, "I will kill you."

"Trunks..." Krillin said. "You can't--"

"Don't test me. Leave."

Covered in mud, the monk got to his feet and flew off, followed soon by Tien, Chaotzu and Yamcha. Trunks watched them disappear, then sighed and put his arms back around Goten. "Come on. Let's go in."

"Wait," Gohan said. "We can go to Dende's--"

Pausing, Trunks shook his head. "No. I'll know soon enough, one way or the other. Goten needs me. But..." He looked up at them. "Could you go and see for me?"

"No problem," Piccolo said. He watched them disappear into Capsule Corps, then turned. Gohan was staring at the pair as if he'd just figured something out, and his jaw was in danger of hitting the ground. Piccolo sighed and put his hand on Gohan's shoulder. "C'mon, I'll explain on the way to the Lookout."

*

When Vegeta opened his eyes, he expected to be back in front of Lord Enma's desk or in a familiar section of hell. Instead he found himself in a soft bed, the small group of candles on the nightstand beside him the only light in the room. He pushed the blankets to his waist and sat up, wincing as he moved muscles that had been severed and run through only hours before.

"You're awake!"

Vegeta groaned as someone threw their arms around him and squeezed. At first he wondered who would be happy he was alive, but then recognized his mate's scent. He sighed and relaxed. In his state, there was no way he could shake Goku off. "Calm down," he said. "I'm fine."

After a few seconds, Goku leaned back but kept his hand on Vegeta's shoulders, afraid he might disappear into the darkness around him. He cupped his palm against his mate's cheek and was a little surprised when Vegeta didn't shy away.

"I was worried," he said. "You've been asleep for so long..."

"What? How long?"

"A couple days." He tilted Vegeta's face towards him, staring into his eyes. "I almost didn't make it here in time. Dende said he was amazed you were still breathing. And then Krillin..." His voice trailed off and he lowered his head. 

"Krillin? What about him?"

"He..." Goku sat down on the bed beside Vegeta, still holding him close. "I asked him for a senzu and he said he didn't have any. Yesterday Piccolo stopped by and told me he was lying."

"Mm. Is that all?" Since Goku was slightly behind him, Vegeta used him as a pillow, leaning back on him and resting his head on his mate's shoulder. "And you're surprised?"

"I thought I could trust them. They're my friends. They..." He sighed and lowered his head, nuzzling against Vegeta's hair. "I might have lost you."

"I told you they would kill me if they had the chance."

Goku didn't answer. Instead he reached down to the blankets and pulled them back around Vegeta's shoulders, holding them in place. "You should stay covered. The lookout gets cold at night."

"That hardly matters," Vegeta said, though he didn't yank them back down either. "I've slept in worse conditions."

"Yeah," Goku said. "But you don't have to anymore."

Vegeta shrugged but didn't argue. "Does anyone else know I'm still alive?"

"Uh-huh. Piccolo came by and saw you after you were healed. He said he'd tell Trunks and Bra you were all right. Um...he also said Kami recognized the silfrenel. There was a meteor shower a few weeks ago. It might've come down then."

"Explains why it didn't do much damage," Vegeta said. "Probably thought it could last out the winter and came out when it realized it couldn't."

"Uh...Piccolo also said he figured out it was Videl you saved, and that her an' Gohan are grateful."

"Mm."

The candles beside them flickered though there was no wind. Vegeta glanced at them, watching the wax puddle around the flames, drip down the sides in winding sheet patterns. One of the flames drowned in its wax and guttered, smoke drifting up in a narrow spiral. Goku followed his look and spotted the candle, and relit it with a bit of ki at his fingertip.

"I wanted to ask you something," Goku said. "You mentioned that kids can sense a silfrenel, but Goten says he didn't."

"Really?"

"Yeah. How come Bra and Trunks sensed it but Goten didn't? Or Marron, either?"

Vegeta didn't answer for awhile. He snuggled further into Goku's arms and closed his eyes, relishing his mate's fingers running through his hair and carefully hiding how much he liked it. For a moment he considered pretending to sleep, but he knew Goku wouldn't forgot the question, and later he might ask it in a crowded room with everyone around to bother him.

"Probably..." he said, "probably because I've encountered them before and you have not. A kind of genetic memory, perhaps."

"When did you see one before?" Goku asked. "Did you have to fight it alone?"

"One?" Vegeta gave a low laugh. "I purged a planet of them once."

"What? They--they had a planet?"

"Did you think all my victims were helpless civilized creatures? There were just as many vile and vicious creatures as not. More, actually. Intelligent life is not as common as some think."

"A whole planet of silfrenel? How'd you do it?"

"It wasn't easy. We couldn't blast them, so we had to try different things. Nappa had the idea of dropping huge boulders on them. Raditz set the forests on fire. For all their ideas, though, I found that my sword worked best."

"Sword? Like Trunks? But doesn't that mean you'd have to get close to them? You could've been grabbed and..." His voice trailed off as Vegeta turned aside. "Vegeta?"

"I was." He took a deep breath and sighed. "Fortunately for some reason, our two species are not compatible."

"Huh?"

"...I did not conceive."

"Oh." Goku's eyes widened. "Oh...'Geta..." He gently touched his mate's face only to have his hand swatted aside.

"Don't act so stupid," Vegeta said. "It's not like it was the worst."

"Worst?"

Vegeta winced. He hadn't meant to slip like that. "I meant worst injury. It hardly even hurt."

That didn't pass, though. Goku had been with his prince for too many years, had started to understand how his mind worked all too well. He cupped his hand around Vegeta's cheek again and forced him to meet his eyes. Vegeta squirmed in his grip but even after being healed, he was still too weak to struggle much.

"Kakarrot--"

"You don't have to hide anything from me," Goku said.

"I'm not--"

"Vegeta." Goku stared into his mate's eyes, watching as they slowly brightened and spilled over. His prince never sobbed or whimpered, but the tears came all the same. Goku hugged him closer and brushed them away. "I love you. Please, you don't have to keep this bottled up anymore."

"It's nothing."

"Then there is something. 'Geta...sometimes it helps to talk about things."

"How would you know? What horrible things have happened to you? You've never gone through the kind of hell I have. You've never...you were never..." His voice trailed off and he looked back at the candles. Anything to keep from letting Goku see him cry. "It's not important anyway. It's in the past."

"And it's hurting you now." He slipped his hand into Vegeta's, running his fingers over the small scars on the skin where the hardened tentacles had run him through like needles. "You knew it could do this...were you stabbed like that before?"

Vegeta shook his head once. The tears were slowing now. "Not as such. They...they could harden their arms like whips. That's where the scar on my shoulder came from."

"Mm." Goku kissed his hand. "You're amazing."

Vegeta snorted.

"You are," Goku repeated. "You knew what could happen and you still...you never even hesitated."

"You'd have done the same."

"I...I don't know. If I had known it could do that...heck, I was freaked out just looking at it, and then to know it could turn into n-needles..." He took a breath. "You're right, I haven't been through anything like you have, and yet you still keep going. I don't know how you do it."

"Kakarrot, I swear to God if you even think about pity--"

"No, not pity. It's...'Geta, I don't know that I could survive half of what you've gone through. But..." He sighed and hugged him again as if the prince was a teddy bear and he was the wounded patient. "I don't want you to be in pain. I wish I could take it all from you. If you would just try talking--"

"Never."

"'Geta--"

"Don't be so stupid," Vegeta said. "You think I was some suffering victim? I earned my pain, I won't have you--" He broke off, trying to collect his thoughts. "I won't...allow you..."

Goku leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "I love you. Nothing in the past can change that now."

"It will." Vegeta shook his head and wouldn't look at him. "You won't, not after you know." 

"I. Love. You." Goku felt soft teardrops hit his arm. That his mate's voice was shaking too told him just how much more he could push him. "I'll never stop loving you."

"And if I tell you what you want to know?" Vegeta's tone turned mocking and hateful, sounding for all the world like his first day on earth. "That those brainlesss animals were just warm-ups to the real slaughter? How I enjoyed killing every intelligent creature on each planet I visited? That I laughed at their pitiful attempts to stop me? They tried to hide from us...built shelters beneath the ground and hid their children there. Every time it was the same, hide the children, try to fight. And each time it was the same."

Goku hesitated. He'd gotten his mate to talk without realizing it and he didn't want to ask something stupid and make him retreat back into familiar masks. "What would've happened if you hadn't killed them?"

"I wouldn't have lived very long. Frieza despised anything he thought was insurrection."

"What did he think was insurrection?" Goku hoped it wasn't obvious that he didn't know what that was.

"Disobedience. Questioning him. Refusing anything..." his voice trailed off again.

"And the punishments?"

Vegeta didn't answer for a long time. When he did, his voice was a whisper. "Everything he could imagine."

Slowly, piece by piece, Goku drew more from him. The candles melted to nubs and went out one after the other, and the two Saiyans sat in the darkness, one holding the other, speaking in hushed voices. Occasionally tracing a scar, explaining an old injury. And when Vegeta finished, at least for that night, he sat rigid in Goku's arms and wouldn't meet his eyes, expecting a little of the same animosity the humans felt towards him.

There was a soft touch on his skin and an even softer murmur, "I will always love you."

No relieved sighs, no tears of joy. Just tears, and a small prince leaning against his mate, wrapped up in his arms in the dark.

End


	2. Yousha

****

Yousha: A Snowy Interlude

(Sequel to Silfrenel)

Pairings: Gk/V, Gt/T, Gh/P

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' of this.

Other Info: Goku never left with the dragon, Vegeta never cut his hair, and everyone's alive. In other words, GT is silly and wasn't made by the artist and I don't consider it cannon. Yousha is Japanese for forgiveness, with overtones of mercy (or at least that's what the online dictionary said).

Warnings: A violent vignette. Oh, and some evil Christian ideals.

*

...and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us...

--Matthew 6:12

*

__

He was dreaming. He knew it. But it didn't help. It never did. Frieza's hands were as cold as his memories, his eyes even colder. Few people knew that when the Icejin was aroused, with an interesting toy that might struggle, his eyes appeared to roll back like a shark's so that no blood would splatter and sting them, the protective lens thick enough to stop knives. It never lasted long, only a few seconds, but from his position, his back to Frieza and the tyrant's claws sunk deep within his throat, he could watch his master's eyes turn white.

The planet was purged, as dead as his own world now. This was his reward, caught inextricably in Frieza's hand while the other one raked the skin on his back to shreds. Had he failed in his mission to purge the planet, this would be his punishment. As Frieza took pleasure either way, Vegeta no longer listened to which it was. It was enough to concentrate on the blood pouring down his skin like water, down his face from the first gashes, down his broken arms. After years of such treatment, the pain was so constant that he no longer paid any attention to it, but his life's blood flowing outside his skin felt like it took something with it, carrying something awful out of his body and into the air, onto the metal floors. His life all around him, his life slipping from Frieza's fingers. After so long, the void just on the other side of his fading consciousness was comforting. To end, to be finished. Regardless of his duty to his dead people. To let go.

But Frieza knew this. At least, Vegeta suspected he knew. Why else would he wake up inside a regenerative tank each and every time? He would wake up tomorrow in one, he knew this. But not yet. Frieza had more in mind for him, his royal plaything. Vegeta knew what was coming even as the master raised his white claws to his face and lay the sharp tips at his eyes. For all his cruelty, Frieza was not very creative. When his eyes were sliced open, he hardly flinched.

*

Vegeta woke up. Darkness. For a moment, he thought he was in a tank, his blinded eyes still healing. But there was little pain, at least no more than usual, and he didn't hear the constant footfalls of soldiers walking on the metal floors of a spaceship, didn't hear the constant screams that was Frieza's enjoyment. And he was warm and covered in blankets and wrapped in someone's arms.

His eyes, yes he still had them and they were whole, adjusted to the dark, and he made out the edges of the table, his sword, the chair and Kakarrot's long robe draped over it...he closed his eyes again. The years between Frieza and Kakarrot came back to him, and he breathed out. He'd spent more time on that ship than on earth, he couldn't expect to forget it yet. Not even with a mate to remind him.

He glanced up at his mate's face. Kakarrot hadn't woken up. Good. The idiot had gotten better about keeping his mouth shut, holding back those stupid, useless, humiliating questions, but right now Vegeta didn't even want to look into his mate's wide eyes. He didn't want to deal with a mate who, as the humans loved to say, was just trying to help.

Fuck help. Didn't need it. He turned more towards the larger Saiyan, pillowing his head on the broad shoulder and draping his arm over his mate's side. Goku reacted in his sleep, unconsciously tightening his hold on the smaller prince. As Vegeta closed his eyes, tears squeezed out. He didn't bother to wipe them away, satisfied that no one would see. It felt like the warm liquid that bled out whenever his eyes were shredded apart. Long minutes passed, measured out by his shuddering breaths, until Vegeta slipped back to sleep.

Goku looked down at his mate. It had taken all his willpower not to gather Vegeta up and stroke his hair and tell him that everything would be all right. All his willpower hadn't been enough to stop him from holding Vegeta a little tighter, but it seemed his prince hadn't noticed. He breathed a sigh and gave into the urge to run his fingers along his sleeping mate's hair. This night had been bad but was by no means the worst. He couldn't see into Vegeta's dreams but he could feel the emotions through their bond, feel the anguish and pain. He would've sworn he heard Frieza's laughter through the link.

Worst of all was the hopelessness he always felt, Vegeta's resignation to his pain. Even animals caught in a trap would struggle or bite their own limbs off. After a few years, Vegeta didn't have even that instinct left. Frieza had tortured it out of him so that the prince took pain as a part of life, to be endured, to be expected, never to be escaped.

Outside the window, the wind howled louder, rattling the glass. Goku glanced up to make sure the curtains were still drawn to muffle the sound, but he could see the glass around the edges, covered in frost patterns. Winter had come in harder than usual this year, the frequent storms leaving the forest covered in ice and snow. Normally he would've had company all year round, friends and family staying long into the night to play cards, to eat. Now the house was relatively quiet.

He sighed. After Krillin had refused to help his injured mate, and with Tien and Chaotzu supporting him, there were few to have over. Everyone knew about him and Vegeta. He hadn't seen Chichi's reaction, but Bulma had given him the condensed version, "she moved back in with her dad, took everything with her and oh yeah burned all the clothes you'd left behind."

Vegeta turned in his sleep. Goku watched him for awhile, relieved to see that the tears had stopped and that his mate was beyond dreams. He grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up around his chest, almost covering his mate entirely. With the way Vegeta slept nearly halfway down his body, he was glad that Vegeta preferred being swallowed up in endless sheets and blankets, or else Goku would've been shivering every night with half his body exposed. He gave his love one last squeeze and closed his eyes, letting his hand rest on top of Vegeta's as he drifted back to sleep. 

*

Goku woke up again to the sound of the shower. He wondered how they had running water with so much snow outside, then figured Vegeta must have thawed the capsule house's pipes. He sat up, finding the blanket pulled to his throat. For all his mate's bad temper, he had yet to wake up on a cold morning with the bedding around his waist. And this morning's chill was strong in the room despite the heater being on. He smiled again. Vegeta must've turned it on when he woke up.

He yawned and got out of bed, shivering as he made his way to the bathroom. Steam poured out as he opened the door, and he shut it quickly behind himself. Past experience taught him that cold air and a wet Vegeta did not mix well.

Like every morning, he slipped into the shower behind his mate. Ribbons of steam curled around the smaller Saiyan, hiding his legs, revealing quick glimpses of his arms and face. His hair lay flat, the ends coming between his shoulders. Goku slid his arms around his mate and pulled him against his chest. He took one of Vegeta's hands and held it up, gently rubbing it between his own hands and warming it. The cold air affected Vegeta worse than Goku, but the tall Saiyan didn't mind being his mate's teddy bear or hot water bottle. It always meant the same thing, a snuggly Vegeta, something rare even in the winter until the snow started.

"You're up late today," Vegeta said.

"Huh?" Goku looked around for a clock, but there wasn't one in the bathroom. "Isn't it morning?"

"It's midday."

"Oh, wow." Goku scratched the back of his head, his own hair still spiky when wet. "But if you're in the shower, I guess you just got up too."

A half-shrug. Meaning yes. Vegeta held still, not moving away from his mate but not holding him either.

Goku bit back a sigh. Nightmares had kept his mate from real sleep, and Goku had been awake quietly comforting him, but mentioning that would bring up things Vegeta didn't want to talk about. And even though he couldn't explicitly read his mate's mind, he could imagine what those memories were. Long talks after the silfrenel incident had given him better insight into his mate's past, and he could tell which nightmares would make Vegeta cringe, wake up screaming, or crawl close. 

For now, he simply held him, grateful that Vegeta would let him. They stayed like that until the water started to turn cool. Afterwards, as they dressed, Goku noticed that his mate had chosen his usual blue spandex. He smiled on his way to the kitchen. Usually that meant they'd fight the morning away, but with the amount of snow falling now, it meant instead that they'd be curling up in front of a fire, under a blanket, listening to the storm outside. 

Instead of a large breakfast, since it wasn't really breakfast and neither of them felt like training in freezing cold, Goku fixed two Saiyan sized cups of hot cocoa to warm them. The floor was chilly, so he sat on the counter and hurried the water along by firing small amounts of ki at the kettle until it was boiling. After a good helping of marshmallows, he picked up the steaming mugs and took them into the main room.

The capsule house had changed a bit since his mate had moved in with him. He no longer had to hide the fact that Vegeta was his lover, so the handful of pictures of Chichi had been taken down. He had a feeling that Vegeta had incinerated them since he never saw them again, not even in a trash can, but as long as he left the ones of Gohan and Goten alone, he didn't mind. Instead of her photos, the mantle now displayed a pair of swords similar to the one Trunks had inherited. Though it had taken some begging on his part, he'd finally gotten Vegeta to promise to teach him how to fight with swords, but only after the snow melted.

Little else had changed. Vegeta seemed less interested with the house and more satisfied simply being with his mate. He'd covered every window with long dark curtains so no one could see in. He'd destroyed the table that visitors had used to play poker on, but he'd also replaced it with a sofa and the blanket they usually huddled under. Brown and thick like an animal's pelt, it was large enough that they could fold it over and still have plenty of room. During the cold months, it was Vegeta's favorite spot, and Goku found him there now, already curled up on the sofa with soft music playing.

Goku set the mugs down on the end table first before slipping under the blanket. He sat down and quietly waited as Vegeta crawled onto his lap and lay his head on his shoulder. A slight blush from embarrassment colored his mate's face, that he would even think to be so close to his former rival, let alone show that kind of vulnerability, but neither said anything about it. A few seconds later Goku tucked the blanket around themselves and handed one of the mugs to Vegeta, who cupped it in both hands.

Although the curtains gave them privacy, they also kept the house dark, especially since Goku discovered that his mate didn't like bright lights. He reached across the couch and flipped on the lamp, the blue shade throwing soft colors on the room. 

After awhile they finished their drinks and set them aside. As Goku hugged him close, Vegeta looked up into his eyes.

"I don't want to train today," he whispered. "It's too cold."

"Okay," Goku said, accepting that excuse. "I'd rather hold you anyway."

His mate lowered his head again, relaxing so that he felt boneless in his arms.

While he held him, he noticed the music again, quiet and dark. Vegeta had specific tastes, what some may have called picky even, and what often filled the house was not necessarily classical or metal or any one type, but was always dark and slow. Goku found it soothing usually, and he could understand why Vegeta preferred it, but there was something a little unsettling about the Moonlight Sonata in a dark room with the glare and moan of a blizzard at the window.

Still, it was Vegeta's favorite song, not that he would admit it. Not that he'd even known what songs really were when he arrived. Goku closed his eyes, remembering the look on his mate's face when he'd first discovered music, parted lips and a tilted head. How could anyone stay on earth so long and not know about music? And didn't the rest of the galaxy have songs? From the way Vegeta acted, he didn't think so.

Vegeta's breathing turned soft and slow. Goku glanced down and smiled at his sleeping mate. There were never any nightmares when he was in his arms. 

*

Four freezing humans stood in the center of a field, huddled together in front of the dragon balls. The blizzard provided the cover they'd need to summon the dragon, make their wishes and get rid of Vegeta before the two Saiyans noticed anything. Chaotzu pressed himself against Tien's leg, shivering in what to him was chest deep snow. He'd have flown, but the wind was even colder. Krillin and Yamcha stood next to him, setting the dragon balls on the snow. The yellow spheres sank an inch down but no further.

"Okay," Tien said. "Let's do this."

"Right." Krillin hugged himself and hovered over the snow, using Yamcha as a windbreak. "Come forth, Shenlong!"

The dragon rushed out of the balls and hovered over them, and the snow beneath them melted into slush and mud. Chaotzu grimaced and flew up, his feet soaked through. The heat from the dragon turned the blizzard into rain, forcing them to flare their ki to keep dry.

After the dragon's rumbling, Krillin stepped forward, shouting so that the dragon could hear him. "Okay, for my first wish, I wish that Vegeta was absolutely powerless!"

"What?" Yamcha said, glancing at him. "You never said anything about Vegeta--"

"Can it, Yamcha," Krillin said. "This has to be done."

The dragon paused, then answered. "I cannot grant this wish. Ki is the essence of life. To destroy ki is to destroy life. The Saiyan would die."

"Dammit," Tien said. "Now what?"

"Hang on, hang on...lemme think." Krillin considered for a moment. "Okay then, I wish that he was only as powerful as a normal human!"

"Krillin, what are you--?"

The short fighter cut Yamcha off with a wave of his hand. "Not now."

Another pause. "I cannot grant this wish. The Saiyan requires Saiyan energy levels to survive. To dampen those permanently would be to kill him."

"Argh, there has to be something. I wish he was only as powerful as a normal human for an hour?"

The dragon's eyes flashed, and a vibration went through the air, as if a deep chord had been struck. "Your wish is granted."

"Yeah, way to go Krillin," Chaotzu said.

"Name your second wish."

Seeing that something was wrong, Yamcha stepped forward to take the second wish, but Krillin noticed and beat him to it.

"I wish that Goku will fall asleep and not wake up for an hour!"

"Krillin!"

"Your wish is granted."

As the dragon vanished, the snow came down again in thick white sheets. Yamcha faced the three fighters. "What are you doing?"

"What has to be done," Tien said. "Goku thinks Vegeta's good, but that bastard's killed billions of people. You can't just wash that kind of blood off."

"Then what about Piccolo?" Yamcha said. The wind was picking up, and he had to start shouting to be heard. "Or 18?"

"Don't you dare lump them with him," Krillin said. "They're different."

"They're not screwing your best friend, you mean! Damn it, Krillin, I didn't stop Trunks from killing you just so you could kill Vegeta."

"I'm not gonna kill him," Krillin said. "But Goku has to be protected from himself. I'll bet anything Vegeta's just waiting for all of us to forget everything he's done before he attacks us, right when Goku doesn't expect it."

"And yet you sent Goku to sleep?" Yamcha clenched his fists in frustration. "Krillin, can you hear yourself?"

"It's okay," Tien said. "We're going there right now. Come on."

The three of them took to the air, but Yamcha didn't follow and they stopped.

"Well?" Tien said. "Come on."

"No." Yamcha shook his head and flew off the ground, but he moved in the opposite direction. "This isn't right. You can't--"

"We can and we are," Krillin said. "I thought you'd stand with us on this. I thought I could trust you."

Yamcha looked at each of them, his mouth set in a firm line. None of them would be talked out of this. He turned around and flew as fast he could through the blizzard, hoping they wouldn't fire at his back.

"What the--" Chaotzu said. "Hey!"

"Let him go," Tien said. "We don't need him."

Krillin watched his friend disappear into the snowfall, doubts beginning to twist in his stomach. But then he thought of Vegeta catching Goku off guard and laying waste to the earth, and there was no choice. The three of them flew towards Goku's house to save him from himself.

And on the other side of the storm, Yamcha sped towards Capsule Corps.

*

Something was wrong. Vegeta sat up and looked around. The house was quiet, the music had stopped. Goku was fast asleep next to him. The snow was still coming down and the pipes were making their usual groans as they froze. Still, something was wrong.

He didn't try to wake his mate. If he was acting paranoid, he didn't need Kakarrot seeing him panicking at shadows and half-imagined bumps in the night. Pushing the blanket down around his waist, he felt around for any other life forms inside and around the house. Finding nothing, he pushed out into the forest. And hit a wall.

What the hell? He frowned and tried again. Again a wall, as if he couldn't extend himself any further. But that wasn't right, he could sweep half the planet on an off day. The forest should be no problem. He felt for his ki and found it nearly nonexistent.

With a strangled cry, he grabbed Goku's arm and shook him once. No response. He shook him again, then leaned over him and felt for a pulse. When he felt it as strong and steady as usual, he leaned back and called his name. Goku only turned his head and groaned in his sleep. 

On the edge of his perceptions, Vegeta felt three distinct energy signatures coming through the forest. On their own, they were nothing, but together, and now with his limited ki, they might overwhelm him. Old memories of waiting in his room in Frieza's ship, listening to the lizard's footsteps coming closer, turned his skin colder than the winter air. He fought the urge to panic and rush headlong into battle.

Wait. Calm down.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, gauging himself. Yes, his power level was reduced, nothing like what it should have been, but this had been his power level once before. Years ago, in his other life in service of Frieza. He'd been this weak at one point of his life, and there were tricks that went with it, ways to use what little he had to his advantage. He raised his ki around him like a threadbare blanket.

I was this strong once. I can be this strong again.

The enemy, still only energy flying along the edge of his awareness, was coming closer. His mate would not wake up and he was alone. He opened his eyes and saw his sword on the wall.

He stood and walked closer, staring at the blade. He'd trained with it, practiced familiar moves and strikes, but he'd never tried it in a real fight. Light shone on its edge, the cold gray light from the snow, under his fingers as he ran his hand along the length and grasped the hilt. The leather warmed against his palm and he flourished it once. Steel flowed like his own bone, cutting through the air as well as his own charged life-force. It wasn't his original, now passed down to Trunks, but it was a sword, and a good one, and it would serve. 

After one last look at his sleeping mate, he stepped out of the house and into the forest. With so little ki left to him, he would resort to his old tricks and deceits. He formed a small, shining glow in his hands and set it behind a thick thorn bush. If he couldn't win in a straight fight, he could destroy them through misdirection and surprise.

*

The sun wouldn't move as Yamcha flew over the uniform trees. He couldn't feel his face for the cold wind, and he felt like he wasn't moving at all. The scenery refused to change, the sky was one shade, the snow wouldn't fall faster or slower, and he couldn't even feel the wind on his skin.

When he saw the Capsule Corps' lights come up on the horizon, and the city lights behind it, he grinned and flew faster. As he came closer, he dropped to the ground and skimmed over the snow up to the doorstep.

"Trunks!" he yelled, banging on the door. "Trunks! Goten!" He didn't hear anyone moving inside and he banged harder, leaning against the door as his breath turned ragged, the effort of his flight catching up to him. "Trunks, dammit, Vegeta's in danger!"

He closed his eyes, coughing as he spoke, wondering if anyone was even listening. "Krillin an' Tien, they called the dragon. Vegeta's lost most of his ki and Goku can't wake up. Trunks! I think they're gonna kill him." Still no sound. He growled and hit the door again. "Trunks!"

The door opened wide and he fell forward onto the floor. As he pushed himself up, he saw a pair of familiar yellow boots and the tip of an unsheathed sword. Yamcha swallowed reflexively. Trunks had promised to kill him before.

"Krillin and Tien did what?" Trunks sounded as cold as the weather. He made no move to help Yamcha up, but he didn't try to kill him either.

"They summoned the dragon and wished Goku would sleep and that your father would be as weak as human for an hour. They're going right now, them and Chaotzu."

"How do you now this?" 

"I was there. I couldn't take them all, so I came here."

Goten's voice came from nearby. "Yeah, we felt the dragon a few minutes ago. Trunks, if it's true, they could really hurt your dad."

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Yamcha lay still, too tired to move. Somewhere in his mind he knew the floor he was laying on was cold, but after the blizzard he'd just flown through, it felt warm to the touch. All of his muscles started to relax and he drowsed, his eyes half closed. The sword went back in its sheath. 

"You're right, I can barely feel my father." 

As Trunks moved aside, soft hands slipped around Yamcha, helping him sit up. He heard Bulma saying something to him, but the words were hard to make out, as if she was speaking through cotton. He groaned and leaned against her, but a hand fell heavily on his shoulder and he looked up. Trunks knelt in front of him, and the anger in his eyes made him even more like Vegeta than usual. That made it all the more strange when, even though Yamcha couldn't hear him anymore, he was able to make out the words "thank you" on the young man's lips.

A moment later the two boys were gone, and Yamcha wondered if he'd only imagined it.

*

Snow had silenced the forest. There were no leaves to rustle in the wind, only the occasional crack of frozen branches and the piff of snowflakes the size of plates hitting the ground. And the crunch of Vegeta's boots through the snow. He glanced back over the path he'd taken to make sure his footprints had vanished. There was no worry about his scent. Mere humans would never pick that out, especially the small monk.

He curled his hand in the air and formed another ball of ki that he set under the gnarled roots of an elm tree. That made six, and there was no time to make any more. No matter. The approaching trio were nearly at the first decoy. There was enough time to backtrack to the last one he'd set and lay in wait.

*

The blizzard was still on them when Krillin and Tien and Chaotzu landed at the center of the forest. Goku's ki was at rest, unmoving in his capsule house, and Vegeta's was alone in the cold. Krillin stood still and searched for the prince's energy, but he frowned and looked up at Tien.

"Can you find him?" he asked.

Tien shook his head. "No, it's too faint. I can feel that he's in the forest, but..." He laughed. "It's so weak I can only tell he's here. It's like he's all over the forest."

"But we can't waste time looking for him," Chaotzu said. "In less than an hour he goes back to being super Saiyan. If he finds out we did this, there won't be enough left of us to bury."

"Then we'll have to split up," Krillin said. "I can pick up a few signatures around the forest, so one of them must be him. I'll go this way."

"Then I'll go this way," Tien said, turning in the opposite direction.

"Wait a second," Chaotzu said. "Why are there so many signatures? Shouldn't there just be one?"

"I dunno," Krillin said, shrugging. "Maybe he freaked and blew some stuff up. We might just be feeling his ki's residue since we're looking for it."

"Freaking out...sounds just like him." Tien started walking away. Behind him, Krillin and Chaotzu nodded to each other and split up farther along their path.

*

His traps were spread out over several miles of his territory, luring his enemies away from each other. They scattered perfectly, better than he had hoped. And the clown, coming closest, would be first. He drew his sword and threw aside the scabbard. He didn't worry that they might find it. They wouldn't think to look for warning signs when they didn't know they were being hunted. And the blade itself blended into the ice and sky.

A bright spot of green and red floated over the snow, flickering between the branches as he looked down. Chaotzu only looked left and right, never up. Did they think he was too weak to climb into the trees? He only wished his spandex kept out the cold now that he could not use his ki to warm himself.

His prey came closer. Vegeta tensed, readjusted his grip on the hilt. He held his breath. Chaotzu passed just under him and didn't look up.

The old habits coming back to him, Vegeta indulged himself and gave a low growl as he pounced, giving Chaotzu enough time to turn and gasp before he was thrown to the ground. Chaotzu landed on his back with Vegeta on top of him, eyes promising revenge.

The blade flashed over their heads and, shrieking, Chaotzu raised one hand to try to deflect or destroy it before it fell. Drawing the blade back from the prey's ki blast, Vegeta twisted it suddenly, hammering the steel pommel between his eyes. Chaotzu went limp and flattened in the snow, blood dripping from the already forming broken bruise.

With a jump, Vegeta was back in the trees, giving his dropped enemy one last glance. He hadn't even left any footprints. A ghost had taken his prey down. But that shriek had called the other two and he felt them racing to the rescue. Vegeta took a deep breath and steadied himself. These two would not be so easy. He started moving again, between icicles and frozen branches, masking his sound with the wind.

*

The capsule house was dark when Trunks landed at the front, pushing the door open. "Goku? You here?"

Shaking his hair and shoulders free of snow, Goten came around him into the living room. "Dad?" He found his father on the couch, a blanket over his body, his head tilted back as he snored. He gave his shoulder a shove, but Goku only turned his head and slipped deeper into the couch. "Dad?"

After he was sure no one else was in the house, Trunks came up beside Goten. "Goku? Dinner's ready."

Goku mumbled in his sleep and turned on his side, but he didn't wake up.

"Damn, he's really out," Goten said. 

"Papa probably couldn't fly too far," Trunks said, looking around the room. "He must have felt Krillin and Tien coming. I bet he went into the forest."

"To hide?"

Trunks spotted the empty stand that normally held his father's sword. "To kill."

"Huh? But he's weaker than they are now."

"He took his sword." Trunks couldn't hide his smile of pride in his father. "He could hide better without lugging that around. We'd better hurry."

"How come?" With one last look at his sleeping father, Goten followed Trunks outside and into the sky.

"If we don't find papa soon, he might kill Krillin and Tien before we get a chance at them."

*

"Chaotzu!" Tien ran to his friend's side and fell to his knees, pulling the small body upright. "Chaotzu!...he's out cold."

Krillin looked around to make sure they were alone, then down at Chaotzu. "But he's alive."

"Vegeta must not have had time to finish him off."

"I'm not so sure." Krillin studied the snow around them, looking around in a big circle. "Look, the snow's clean. I don't see any footsteps except ours."

Both of them shared a look, then glanced up into the trees. Standing and bringing Chaotzu up in his arms, Tien put his back to Krillin's as they scanned the forest, looking for any sign of the Saiyan prince, a shadow, a growl, anything. They could only make out the branches of the closest trees through the snow, so much like a lace curtain drawn across the gray background.

"This is ridiculous," Tien said. "We're stronger, so why're we scared?"

"He dropped on Chaotzu before he even knew he was there. How can he move through those trees at all? They're covered in ice."

"He's a damn monkey." Tien shifted his unconscious friend to one arm and put his hand on Krillin's shoulder. "We'd better stick together."

"Yeah. And we'll have to bring Chaotzu with us. He'd freeze to death before he wakes up."

With Krillin watching the front and Tien watching the back, they slowly made their way down the path towards Vegeta's closest ki signature. As they walked, the snow covered their footsteps almost as soon as they made them, and they had to dust the snow off their shoulders and Chaotzu's prone body before it could cover them, as if the forest was trying to swallow them whole.

*

The tall one was burdened with holding his friend's body. Vegeta held still as they moved down the path. Perfect. And they were searching the trees, even better. He was not so poor a predator as that. Even though he crouched only a few feet away, the leafless thorn bushes were still thick enough to hide him. Tien's eyes, Chaotzu's bloody face, Krillin's wary searching, all clear through the thin twigs. If they had known what was hunting them, had known how weak Saiyans brought down prey, he doubted they would move so brazenly through the woods.

But then even he didn't know exactly what he was doing. Decades had passed since he had used these skills and he let his instincts guide him, using his intelligence when needed but mostly reverting to his primal predatory impulses. In truth, they were not so buried as he'd thought. In less than a few minutes, the civilized veneer had vanished, leaving him with the part of himself that could slaughter all of a planet's intelligent life and eat his kill. 

He would not eat these three, though. He held only disgust for these creatures, hypocrites to the core. He'd seen them eagerly roast whole carcasses and handle dead flesh with no mind that it had been alive only a few days earlier. They'd looked at him in a mix of horror and loathing when he'd come back from the wilderness, dragging an animal's body and splattered in its blood. He wondered if his mate had ever taken them out on a hunt and showed them what cleaning and gutting involved, let them hear the ripping sounds as the hide was skinned off the muscle.

He nearly snorted, but that would've told them where he was, so he held silent. Did they really think meat grew in neat styrafoam packets, or that the creature just fell over and died on command? They had no conception about the true nature of the hunt. At least his prey had a chance to escape, or to turn and leave their own marks on him before they died. His prey had survived the cruelties of nature until brought down by a predator from a different planet, while their prey grew in cramped boxes and choked on their own filth, maddened with pain until slaughtered by machines. Humans were no better than their prey. Despite all the hardships and pain he had suffered, he would not trade his life for theirs.

There was honor in his hunt. But them...they were only prey pretending at being something more. His mate would--

The trio passed by as he paused. For a moment he'd forgotten the reason that he was so angry. Kakarrot was still at home, helpless and unaware. He stretched his senses towards his mate, but again he hit a wall. How many miles had he gone? If he had been any other creature, he would've worried about freezing to death. As he was, the snow was more of an inconvenience than usual, but nothing life-threatening. Not nearly as harsh as some of the worlds he'd purged years ago.

"Hey," Tien said, turning towards the thorns Vegeta was behind. "You feel that?"

"What, another ki ball?" Krillin heaved a sigh but walked closer anyway. "I'll check, but man...if I'd thought he'd be strong enough to make ki balls, I'd have tried a different wish."

"Yeah," Tien said. "Who'd of thought he'd be so damn sneaky?"

As the monk bent towards the branches, Vegeta held his breath, his muscles tensing like springs. Just a little closer, just a few more inches. Krillin's hand landed on the thickest branch and pulled it aside.

With a wild cry, Vegeta leaped out from his hiding place and sliced upwards with his sword. The cut missed Krillin's throat but only because the monk stumbled backwards, startled by the Saiyan's yell. The blade's edge still sliced through his shirt and into his collar. Blood splattered on the snow in a broad arc and Krillin fell to his knees, gasping.

There was no time to press the attack, Tien was already dropping Chaotzu in the snow. Vegeta leaped past Krillin and advanced with a series of flourishes to drive Tien back and keep him from using his split form technique. One of the warrior was bad enough, but if there were four of him coming from all directions, the fight would be over fast. 

The light off the sword merged with the snowfall so that Tien had to follow Vegeta's body and guess where the sword's edge was. He moved backwards through the deepening drifts, dodging each slash. A stone twisted under his foot and he stumbled, not enough to fall or even lose his balance but enough to give Vegeta an opening and swing the blade into his shoulder. Tien almost expected to hear something, like a cleaver through cabbage or some other sound effect, but there was nothing over the wind.

For awhile he didn't feel any pain, only nausea as blood bubbled up over the skin and sliced muscle. His arm went limp at his side, and he more fell than dodged Vegeta's next swipe. He landed on the ground and when he looked up, Vegeta drew his sword back, ready for the last cut.

A ki blast slammed into the prince, throwing him several feet back into a deep snow drift. As he slid to a stop, a stinging pain ran up along his side and he looked down. Where Krillin had thrown his ki, his skin burned. Proof of how weak he was, it was as if he'd taken a kamehameha full on. He stood up, and as he pulled the inflamed skin, the burn hurt even worse. He winced and stumbled back a step.

"What's the point of this shit?" he growled. "You gonna singe me to death?"

"I didn't expect you to fight us," Krillin said, holding another blast in one hand as his other hung useless at his side. "I didn't wanna fight. That's why I made that wish."

"To make me as weak as you pathetic fools? I don't care how weak you made me, I'll never be as helpless as you!" He held his sword at the ready and held still. "I won't go down without taking you with me."

"I don't wanna kill you," Krillin said. "It's not permanent, you'll be back to normal soon." Hopefully not too soon, he thought. 

"You thought you could take me so quickly?" Vegeta barked a laugh. "Ask your friends if they still think that."

The monk glanced at his fallen companions. Both of them lay face down, Tien on top of Chaotzu, blood steaming on the snow around them. Tien's breath came in sharp gasps, and he grasped his shoulder with his good hand, keeping the slice from tearing open any further. Krillin couldn't see how deep it was for all the blood, but it had to have been horrendous for him to be laid out.

"I said I don't wanna fight you," Krillin said, his voice trembling. Next time he'd wish for the Saiyan prince to be half a normal human's strength, and without a sword. "I did this to get you away from Goku."

Vegeta blinked. "What the fuck are you talking about? You can't handle it--?"

"Oh please," Krillin said, "give me some credit. I don't care who he loves--"

"Unless it's me."

"You're a killer! You've killed billions of people, you don't just get better after that. I don't care how good you act, you can't wipe that blood off your hands."

Vegeta glared, but he didn't argue.

"And now you've got everyone fooled," Krillin said. "Goku's always been forgiving, but Bulma, Trunks, Goten, Gohan, hell even Piccolo can't see you clear. But I don't buy it. I don't trust you, I'll never trust you."

"Like I care what you think."

Krillin took a deep breath, never lowering the blast he had ready and trained on Vegeta. "I know. You don't care what anyone thinks. You don't care about anyone. I once thought you did. You had me fooled like everyone else, all those years you didn't destroy anything, years you spent raising Trunks. I thought you'd calmed down."

Even though he could see where this was going, Vegeta held silent.

"And then you let Babidi turn you just so you might be able to kill Goku. Nothing had changed! Nothing! A decade, and you were just as evil as always. You murdered a whole stadium of people just to make Goku angry. You threw away your family on a whim!"

"You know nothing," Vegeta said, his voice low and soft. "You don't have the darkness inside you to be manipulated like that. It took all my pride to resist him and that's exactly what he used against me."

"Quit the pride crap," Krillin said. "You wanted to kill. Nothing changed then, and nothing's changed now. I'm not gonna believe you're all better 'cause you've behaved for awhile. I know you're biding your time, waiting for the perfect opportunity, and then you're gonna hurt Goku again and he might have to kill you, and that'll hurt him even more. I can't trust you, Vegeta, and you'd better leave him alone."

"...little fool," Vegeta whispered. "I'm not like that anymore."

"Are you deaf? I said I don't believe it. Now you'd better go or else..." He hefted his ki and aimed dead at Vegeta. "Or else I'll do what I have to, to keep Goku safe."

"Go where? To a galaxy that hates me?" Vegeta lowered his head a fraction, ready to fight. "And what will you do when Goku finds me gone? Tell him I was cowed by a tiny, frightened human?"

"I mean it," Krillin said. "I'll do it."

"Sanctimonious little coward," Vegeta hissed. "You'll kill me just satisfy your paranoia?"

"At least I have a reason. You never even had that."

Vegeta shifted his stance, about to attack, and Krillin fired the largest blast he could, the energy output shoving his feet back several inches. Instead of dodging or leaping over the yellow bolt, Vegeta whirled the sword in a broad circle and stepped forward as he sliced down. Split by the blade, the ki shot in two directions, burning his arms but nothing worse.

"What? How the hell--?"

"Ignorant shrimp," the prince smirked. "Just because I'm weakened doesn't mean I can't defend myself against the likes of you."

Before Krillin could reply, the forest seemed to pulse once, blurring and coming back into focus. The snow cleared for an instant, and Krillin felt like he was sinking when he realized the wave had come from Vegeta. Apparently the hour was up.

All of his familiar power rushed back on the prince and he took a second to savor the rush. "And now you've lost your advantage. Think the dragon balls will recharge in time to bring you back?"

Instead of running, the monk stood straight and took a deep breath. "Go ahead. Then maybe Goku will realize what you really are."

Vegeta lowered his sword. "You really think I would hurt him now."

"You can't change your nature."

"No. I can't." He wished he had his sheath. There was no place to set his sword, and he didn't need it anymore. Fuck Krillin anyhow, he didn't have to stay here and listen, and he had a feeling Goku might be awake now. He was about to fly off when he felt two strong energy signatures coming towards them.

"Father!" Trunks landed next to him, looking him over as if he expected more than his burns. "You're all right?"

"Fine now. The wish has worn off. How did you find out?"

"Yamcha told us. I'm surprised he had the guts to face me after the last time we met, but..." His voice trailed off. "Looks like you didn't need us after all."

"A few more minutes and I might have," Vegeta said so that only Trunks would hear. He wouldn't have admitted it to anyone else, but his son had always had a fragile ego. Probably hereditary.

"So," Goten said, staring at Krillin who now faced three super Saiyans. "What do we do about him?"

Trunks turned his attention to the monk, drawing his sword as he moved. "This is the second time you've tried to kill him. I warned you once already."

"You don't understand," Krillin said, taking a step back. "He's still evil, he has to be stopped. I did it for Goku! For all of us!"

"Lying little--" Trunks raised his sword, about to close the distance between him and his enemy, when his father's hand came to rest on his shoulder. He glanced aside. "Father?"

"Let him live."

"What? After all he's done?" He lowered his sword but kept his eyes on Krillin, silently daring him to move.

"Trunks..." Vegeta shook his head. "He's right. I cannot change my nature. I'm as much a killer now as I was before."

"Father?"

"You see, he admits it!" Krillin grinned, then remembered he was weaker than that killer.

"Just because a wolf stops biting," Vegeta said, "doesn't mean the rabbit won't be afraid of it anymore. He's only a rabbit afraid of a wolf, nothing more." He shrugged and turned his sword aside. "Besides, Kakarrot would be upset if I killed him."

"Oh!" Reminded about his father, Goten tugged on Trunks' sleeve to get his attention. "I bet dad's awake now."

"Probably." Trunks looked back at his father. "You gonna be all right? Those burns--"

"Next to nothing. I should make sure Kakarrot is well." Vegeta turned to leave, but his son's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"But...father? I don't..." Trunks looked between him and Krillin, knowing the monk was still a threat and bewildered that Vegeta would simply let him go. "Why?"

For a moment, the prince didn't answer. Even after all these years of holding himself back, leaving an enemy alive felt alien. "He expects me to kill him. I won't give him that satisfaction, even if it means leaving him alive. Besides..." he shrugged, then winced as it pulled on a burn. "He wants to keep all of you safe. How can I kill him for that?"

With one last nod to his son and Goten, he quietly rose into the air and flew back to his mate. Behind him, Trunks glared at Krillin, wondering if he could kill the monk without his father or anyone else finding out. He still had his sword out, and he could probably take Krillin out fast and then dispatch of the other two, still unconscious and now half-buried. He took a step towards the monk. After all, he had warned him before.

Krillin backed up, not looking where he was going, and stumbled into the snow. He scooted backwards over the ground, staring at Trunks' cold eyes. He'd forgotten just how much like Vegeta Trunks could be. Even if Vegeta had forgiven him, apparently Trunks hadn't. Part of his mind wondered why the boy would bother using a sword, but most of him was certain that Trunks was going to eat him.

"Trunks..." Goten stepped closer to his mate and put his hand on his arm, pushing it down. "It's cold, and it's getting dark again."

"Just a moment, chibi," Trunks said, not looking away from Krillin. "I'll be done in a minute."

"Too long. I wanna go home now." Goten glanced at Krillin, then back at his mate. He pressed himself even closer around him, leaning his head on his shoulder and letting Trunks' hair sweep over his face. "The sunroom's still warm, I bet. We could go lay on the couch, watch the snow come down. Just the two of us."

"Goten..."

"Please, Trunks. Please." He looked up into his mate's eyes, blinking as the snowflakes caught on his lashes. "We can go home right now, and everything'll be okay. Please?"

For a moment, none of them moved, Goten wondering if he would agree, Trunks slowly considering, and Krillin trying to blend into the stones. When Trunks didn't move for several seconds, Goten gently pushed his sword down and guided it into its sheath. Trunks let out a ragged breath and turned his face towards Goten's hair, burying himself in his mate.

Trunks spared a glance back at Krillin. "You're damn lucky each Vegeta gets a Son."

"Come on," Goten said, "let's go home. Hey, nimbus!" As the cloud appeared, he plopped down and pulled Trunks onto his lap. They both went into the air, moving through the falling snow. Trunks put his hand on the cloud's surface and winced when he felt it go through. 

"How do you put up with me, chibi?" he whispered. In his mind he imagined trying to explain killing baldy to his mother, his grandparents, Gohan and Goku and Piccolo and Vegeta. Well, maybe not Piccolo or his father. Or his mother. Heck, even Yamcha might not have minded.

Goten smiled and held him closer. "No man is so good as to be free from all evil, nor so bad as to be worth nothing."

"Where'd you hear that?" Trunks mentally checked off his philosophy books and drew a blank. "Kant? Confucius? No way it was Hobbes..."

"The Big Bedtime Book of Fairy Tales," Goten said, laughing when his mate face faulted. "I'll read it to you when we're in the sunroom."

"...do we even _have _a bedtime book of fairy tales?"

*

In the forest, Krillin went about waking Tien up and feeding him his only senzu, and then let the taller fighter take him and Chaotzu towards the nearest hospital. If Tien or Chaotzu felt the three Saiyans flying away from them, they didn't mention it. None of them said anything on the way, although each of them had the look teenagers get when they pull a stunt that nearly kills them and realize they nearly killed themselves, and that only by some kind of grace are they still breathing.

*

Landing quietly on his doorstep, Vegeta took a moment to brush the snow from his hair before going in. He sighed as he closed the door behind himself. Either he or the brats had left it open and snow had blown in on the floor. Ignoring it for now, he set his sword on the mantle and settled on the couch beside his sleeping mate. His arms still stung with fresh burns, but those were healing at last. His shivering hurt worse actually, as now that the house was warming up, he felt the difference in temperature and felt all of his muscles tense up. He put his arms around himself and leaned forward, trying to force himself to stop.

A thick blanket fell over his shoulders. He looked up and found Goku staring at him, a strange look on his face. 

"Your arms..." Goku touched his shoulder and his jaw dropped. "'Geta, you're soaked through. What happened?"

"Just a small run-in with your friends." He half-smiled. "You should be proud of me. I didn't kill anyone."

"'Kill'?" Seeing that his mate was not in a talkative mood, Goku got up and went to the bathroom, pulling out bandages and burn ointments. When he came back, Vegeta hadn't moved. Goku sat back down and gently tugged off what remained of the tattered blue tank top and pants, covering his waist with the blanket while he tended to the red and black burns.

Inch by inch, he wrapped white gauze around Vegeta's arms, starting with his hands and working his way up. For his part, Vegeta merely held his hand out and stared at the floor.

"If there was trouble," Goku started, "why didn't you wake me up?"

"They made a wish that you wouldn't."

"They?"

"Your three hairless friends. Baldy nearly killed me."

"What?" Halfway through the other arm, Goku stopped. "That's impossible, you're--"

"--weaker than they were, for an hour."

Slowly Goku finished wrapping the bandages, tucking the end in when he was done. "The dragon balls?"

Vegeta nodded.

Goku sat back and considered for several seconds, unconsciously running his thumb over the back of Vegeta's hand. The prince watched it move, following it back and forth.

"It's not right," Goku said. He drew himself up as if he'd come to a decision. "They should never have done this to you. I have to make them realize--"

"Already did it," Vegeta said. "Broke the clown's head, nearly took off triclops' arm and...well, I guess I didn't do anything to baldy. I can fix that later, when I feel up to it."

"But I can't let them attack you just because they don't like us--"

"They didn't. Well, maybe triclops and the clown did, but baldy was afraid I was going to hurt you." He took a deep breath and gave Goku a brief synopsis of what had been said. Towards the end, Goku raised his hand to interrupt.

"Wait a second. You had the chance to kill him and you didn't?"

Vegeta shook his head.

"Why?"

"To prove that I could control myself."

"To him?"

"To me."

"Huh?"

The floor became fascinating again, and Vegeta followed the patterns in the tile as he spoke. "He was right about me. I do get the urge to kill now and then. I can see it in my mind, blasting someone's head off, tearing out their throat. Ripping off their arms and beating them with 'em." He smirked and a laugh slipped out. "I can just imagine the Namek on the ground trying to grow new limbs while I'm smacking him with the ones I've torn off."

"Vegeta..." Goku whispered.

"I know, bad thoughts. Sometimes I wish I didn't have them but..."

"You lived a violent life before now," Goku said. "You can't expect it all to go away."

Vegeta half-shrugged. That meant that the prince wasn't going to say anything else for the rest of the day. Goku gave up the argument for the time being and instead dragged his mate onto his lap. There was no resistance as Vegeta used his chest for a pillow. His shivering slowed and stopped as his breathing turned soft.

Must've been exhausted, Goku thought, being alert and tense for a whole hour.

He sat still in the dark, letting Vegeta's heartbeat and sleepy murmurs lull him into dreams of holding his mate in bed, deep under thick blankets while ice and frost gathered on the windowsill. Outside, the blizzard finally came to an end.


End file.
